Can You Really Use Fruits to Charge Your Cell Phone or Laptop?

Search "fruit cell phone charger" on YouTuber and you will find hundreds of search results with videos claiming that you can actually charge your cell phone with a piece of fruit. Is it really possible to do this?

Recently a researcher from the University of Sydney found a way to convert durian waste products into super capacitors to produce energy. Durian is a tropical fruit that looks very similar to jackfruit and is known as one of the smelliest fruits in the world. Its scent is similar to an onion and they have green leathery skin.

Both durian and jackfruit can be used for this particular type of experiment. The reason being, they are large and their skin is extremely absorbent.

How Does This Work?

Associate professor Vincent Gomes states that they picked the durian and jackfruit from local sources in Sydney. They utilised the waste or the biomass from the fruits. They converted the biomass into carbon aerogels, the method they used to convert the fruit biomass into aerogel is safe and sustainable.

They heat the biomass in water and freeze dry the biomass. Once this takes place, aerogel is then utilised to produce electrodes that store energy.

What can they use this technology for?

Vincent Gomes said that they are experimenting with new and innovative ways to produce and store energy.

"Sustainably-sourced materials that do not contribute to global warming" is vital right now. Especially with the state of the earth as it stands. He also believes that super-capacitors that come from a natural source could be used to power every day items. As fossil fuels are in great decline, this tech could provide an efficient and effective alternative to fossil fuels.

So, essentially, this method could provide the power that power batteries to charge cell phones, laptops and other devices.

The truth is, you simply cannot plug a cell phone charging cable into a fruit such as durian or lemon to charge your cell phone. This is not possible.

If you want to charge your phone using fruit, you would need to use the biomass of the fruit and convert it to energy using the method outlined above. Citrus fruits such as oranges or lemons would not be the best type of fruit to use for this. Durian, Jackfruit and possibly custard apple could be the perfect type of fruit to use for fruit biomass energy storage.

Other sources of energy:

There is potential for other types of renewable energy to charge cell phones such as, wind energy, hydro-energy and waste energy. It might be possible to use human excrement or excrement for animals to produce enough power to charge your cell phones and other devices without using conventional fossil fuels that destroy the earth and impact the environment in a negative way.

Some experiments have shown that salt water can be used to charge your cell phone. Why? Because the salt water mixture can generate electricity when it releases hydrogen. There are devices available on the market that actually charge your cell phone with salt water. It is not advisable for you to try and create your own salt water charge however, these devices claim that can charge your phone without using conventional fossil fuel power.

Some YouTube videos claim that you can simply take water from the sea and use it to charge your phone without the need to purchase gadgets that claim they charge your phone using salt water.

Another method apparently is to use a lemon. Cut the lemon into halves and stick the charger into the lemon. This method is common on YouTube however, there is no scientific evidence that proves that lemons can charge your cell phone.